'Game of Thrones' star Carice van Houten says Me Too movement led her to question show's nude scenes

Game of Thrones' cultural dominance lasted almost a decade as it became renowned for its plotting, twists and sheer scale - but sex and nudity were also much-discussed topics surrounding the show.

Nudity was a recurring aspect of the programme but for some characters more than others, including Melisandre. Now the actor behind the role, Carice van Houten, has explained how the arrival of the Me Too movement affected how she viewed the series retrospectively.

“When the Me Too movement started, that’s when it started sinking in for me,” the Dutch actor told Insider. "And it did sort of change my perspective on my whole career, not just Game of Thrones.”

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As Melisandre, van Houten, 43, appeared nude several times in the run of the fantasy epic as plots saw her attempt to seduce Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) on different occasions.

She was also unclothed when her character’s true self was exposed in series six after she removed her necklace in a famous scene, revealing herself as a very old woman.

“In retrospect, I thought, ‘Why did that scene have to be nude? Why was that normal?’. I did question things, and it was not so much that I was blaming anyone, but that’s just how we evolved and just how the movement affected me," she added.

The mother-of-one shared that as a result she became "very aware" of the male gaze.

Her co-star Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen, was another character who appeared nude several times in the series.

Last year, the actor opened up on her experiences claiming she had felt she was being pressured during the early days of the programme, where there was noticeable a lot more nudity than latter seasons

She remarked that she was now "a lot more savvy" when it came to what she was comfortable doing on screen.